.. Imagery

Race or Culture?

Once again, the contents of this post is unrelated to the photo.

If America is the culmination of Western white civilization, as everyone from the Left to the Right declares, then there must be something terribly wrong with Western white civilization. This is a painful truth; few of us want to go that far. ... The truth is that Mozart, Pascal, Boolean algebra, Shakespeare, parliamentary government, baroque churches, Newton, the emancipation of women, Kant, Marx, Balanchine ballets, et al., don't redeem what this particular civilization has wrought upon the world. The white race is the cancer of human history; it is the white race and it alone - its ideologies and inventions - which eradicates autonomous civilizations wherever it spreads, which has upset the ecological balance of the planet, which now threatens the very existence of life itself.

Susan Sontag wrote that in 1967. She later came to regret the "cancer" metaphor and wrote a whole book against using "Illness as Metaphor". The second problem with her statement, imho, is the issue of race. Is it the "white race" or the "elitist white culture" that is so destructive? After all, race is a construct and all cultures - without exception - have been destructive at some level or another. On the other hand, when we consider the 4,500 year history of Western Civilization, the 'elitist white culture' has been the most destructive. She is right. And it doesn't look like it's going to stop until it destroys itself and the world.

If you have some time, pls watch the observations of Native American elder Phillip Deere.